The Adventures of Someone
by CatKkit
Summary: All Blake wants to do is fit in with his family. Unfortunately, a disastrous trip to Razen throws his life off track. He will travel across the galaxy while making a new set of friends. Will they succeed and come back to their homes in one piece?
1. Chapter 1

**New story.**

**Chapter 1**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Two gingers walked up the red, earthy steps into dwarf town of Macaroon. They were following their short, blue bearded guide, who was telling them about the wonders of Macaroon, and the fine craftsmanship of their weapons, armor, and jewelry. The jewelry was new, and was also the reason that the ginger-haired humans were there. The short guide lead them to the enormous Codimen Tower and left them waiting outside as he went to talk to some of the other dwarves.

"So, Blake, what do you think of Razen so far?" The taller of the two asked as they watched a waterfall of lava.

"Well, it's hot," Blake said, pointing out the obvious.

"No, really? Did you think that the fire planet would be cold?"

"Yes, I thought it would be freezing," Blake joked.

"I hope that dwarf hurries back," the older boy said, shifting nervously from foot to foot, causing Blake to smirk.

"What's wrong, Brody? Flaming fire ants in your pants, or are you just getting cold feet?"

"Shut up. You're lucky that Mom even let you come with me. She kept going on and on about how her precious baby would get hurt," Brody said.

"At least I didn't make her mad!" Blake exclaimed, causing Brody to scowl at him. The two brothers fell into an uncomfortable broken when the dwarf returned, along with a second, burlier dwarf.

"Come with me," the second dwarf said. "Grenadine tells me that our jewelry maker is in the forges right now. Your status gains you an audience. Consider yourselves blessed by this opportunity. It is one that very few get."

"Okay, I see," Brody said as they fell into step behind the dwarf. For a short guy, he could sure move fast. He walked down the stairs that led into Macaroon and stopped once they reached the last step.

"So, we came into the city only to come right back out?" Black asked, slightly angry.

"What? No! The forges aren't above ground!" the dwarf exclaimed.

"Where are they then?" Brody asked. The dwarf wordless turned around on the last step so he was facing up the stairs again.

"They are right around here," he said. With a sudden, loud rumbling, the center of the stairs began to protrude out and move, sliding aside to reveal an entrance. "Come along then."

Brody and Blake had to duck to get into the cave. The brown-rock cavern was lined with lanterns that showed a long drop into darkness below. The trio headed down flight after flight of treacherous, rocky steps until Blake was sure that they'd drop out the bottom of the planet at any time. They stopped suddenly on one of the floors where a set of metal doors stared at them. The dwarf guide walked up to the door and knocked five times.

A gruff voice spoke from the other side. "Who out there, eh?"

"Gomguk, open the door!" the dwarf demanded. "It's just me, Lentil! I have potential customers who are looking for jewelry, and have a special audience."

"Come in, come in!" Gomguk said, practically ripping the door off its hinges with his eagerness. The whole "special audience" thing seemed to be a big deal. Blake couldn't help but wonder why as he followed his brother into the new room. It was far from what he had expected. Instead of more cave, there was a perfectly normal room, lit with lightbulbs from the ceiling. It had a plastic broad-leafed plant in the corner, next to a blue furniture set. On the glass coffee table sat several sets of what appeared to be headphones.

"Take one please," Lentil ordered, grabbing a pair for himself as well.

"What are these for?" Brody asked as he hung the headphones around his neck.

"They're so you don't get permanent ear damage in the forge! You won't need them immediately. I'll signal you when to put them on. Make sure you follow me." With that, he pushed through another door. The walked down a short hallway, which opened up to a ledge with an incredible view.

There was a room below them, the size of several football fields. Pointed rocks protruded from the ceiling and the ground like fangs, casting shadows around the room. The floor was crisscrossed with lava veins. A large stream of lava entered through a mouth on the far side of the room and created multiple other rivers, which disappeared under another wall. Scattered everywhere in the room were dwarves, scrambling across the metal catwalks or pounding away at metals on their anvils.

"This is where we make the weaker armor of bronze, copper, iron, et cetera," Lentil shouted over the banging of the hammers. He led them along a on of the catwalks and into another one of the bizarre rooms with fake plants and purple furniture.

"Why are these catwalks human-sized?" Blake wondered aloud.

"Well, they were left here by humans, along with these rooms," Lentil explained. He paused before entering the next room. "Here is where we make the heavy duty armor and the shields. Also, the large broadswords are made here. There are larger hammers, so more noise. You might want to put you noise canceling headphones on."

"We'll do that when we need to," Brody replied. Lentil gave a nod and led on. The next room was smaller then the first, and had only one major river of lava leading into it, which apparently led into the other cave. There were no other discernible differences, except for the hammers. In the other room, there were only normal hammers that were manually swung. Here, there were large iron blocks that were pulled up to the ceiling and dropped, helping shape the hot metals. The crashes were loud and set Blake's teeth on edge, but he didn't put his headphones on quite yet. Just as before, Lentil took them to a third room.

"Okay, now we're about to go into the sword, knives, and jewelry part of the cave. Here, you will need your earplugs. Any questions before we go in?"

"Not really," Brody said, glancing at his brother, who also shook his head.

"Alright, headphones on and over the ears, please." And with that, the world was silent. The sounds of pinging metal that could be distantly heard from ahead and behind were instantly gone, as if someone had stuffed cotton into his ears. They entered into another hallway, this one longer and with more twists and turns then the others. As they walked, the ground began to shake. Blake wondered what it was and, as soon as they emerged into the next room, he got his answer.

There were massive hammers hanging from the ceiling on thick, black chains, each link the size of a man. One swung down towards a dwarf who was holding a small, red piece of metal in tongs above his head. The hammers slammed together, flattening the metal. The dwarf removed it as the giant hammer bounced away. He added it to some sort of scaly metal vase he was working on. There were a total of seven or so hammers in the room, each crushing in it's own way. One even appeared to have a flowery design on it to imprint into metals, which seemed a little weird and unmanly. Scattered about the room were more dwarves who appeared to be smelting and sharpening.

Brody and Blake followed Lentil along the catwalks that stretched across the room. They headed towards what looked like a control and observation deck at the far corner of the room, near a waterfall of lava. Lentil pulled on both of the boys and pointed towards a figure by the waterfall who appeared to be forging something. Both hammers came crashing down, and the figure casually stuck the metal piece in the center, barely denting it. With an expert move, the figure dunked the metal in water before sticking it back into the magma. Lentil led them to the observation deck, where he motioned for them to stay where they were. Lentil slid down a ladder and approached the figure. Neither ginger could make out what was happening. Lentil returned and led them back across the walkways, out of the third and second rooms until they were back in the room where they originally got the headphones. Lentil removed his and placed them back on the table. Brody and Blake did the same.

"So, how did whatever just happened go?" Brody asked. He was still a little nervous, Blake could tell.

"Your audience with the jewelery maker will take place up top, in the shop," Lentil said as he escorted the boys through the first cave and towards the stairs.

"Not the stairs again!" Blake moaned.

"Of course not!" Lentil exclaimed. "That would be crazy." He walked into a small indent under the stairs and pulled a lever. The opposite wall swung open, revealing another long corridor. The trio followed it for several minutes until they reached...

An elevator.

With grumbling voice, complaining about how much easier that would have been to take the elevator in the first place, Blake and Brody went into the metal box. Lentil followed them, a deep chuckle making his entire body shake. They rode the elevator up, back to the surface to await their audience with the legendary jewelry maker.

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**Chapter done!**

**Hope you liked it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2!**

**Of a story!**

**Obviously!**

* * *

"So, what was up with that no elevator thing?" Brody asked as he sat down on a stool. He, Blake, and Lentil were now in the jewelry shop, but it sure as hell didn't look like a regular jewelry shop that either of the gingers were used to. This one looked like a robot-obsessed mechanic had invaded and thrown up all over the place. Half of the room was dominated by a giant machine. Junk was piled up against separate walls, and two work tables were pushed up against the walls. Jewelery was hung haphazardly on hooks.

"Well, we think that hard work is important. Only the elderly or injured take the elevator," Lentil said. "Or visitors, such as yourself."

"That makes some sense, at least," Brody said. He turned, and looked at Blake, who was wandering about the workshop, touching random pieces of jewelry.

"I would be careful if I were you," Lentil warned. "You don't know what magic is infused in those rings." Blake chose to ignore the dwarf, slowly making his way around the workshop.

"There isn't much of a way to stop him," Brody sighed. "He always does this. He never takes anything. He just likes to looks at them. He gets it from my dad's side."

"If you don't mind me asking, why have you boys gotten the esteemed honor of speaking with our jewelry maker? It's not something that just happens every day."

"Well, our family has some "status" amongst other people. It extends pretty far in this galaxy...Blake! Stop messing around," Brody scolded his brother. "You could get some magic poisoning."

"That's just a myth. Besides, how bad could it be?" Blake asked, reaching for a black diamond ring. In the blink of an eye, a gloved hand shot out and wrapped around Blake's wrist, jerking it away from the ring. "Argh!" Blake ripped his hand away and backed up quickly. He looked at the culprit of the hand grabbing with surprise. It was a girl, but it was fairly hard to tell. She was completely covered in bandages, on her arms, legs, and even face, only leaving her hair and her huge, purple eyes visible.

"I promise you, magic poisoning is very real," she said as she walked over to a stool and sat. Blake was still looking at the girl in shock.

"Hello, I'm Brody, and this is my annoying little brother, Blake," Brody introduced, holding out his hand to shake. The girl stared at it for a few seconds before turning to her table.

"What brings you to Razen?" she asked.

"Miss, you may want to be a little nicer to our guests. They come to us from a rather esteemed family," Lentil warned. The girl sighed and turned back to Brody, who still had his hand outstretched.

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking his hand with her black, gloved one. "My name is Lila. I make the jewelry around here."

"What's with the bandages?" Blake blurted out. Lila looked at him, her face impossible to read underneath the wrappings.

"And you're scolding me for being rude," Lila chided to Lentil.

"He's sorry," Brody said swiftly. "Now, the reason for our visit..."

"Yes?" Lila asked, sounding much more interested now.

"Well, I'm marrying my fiancée in a few days, and I need wedding bands for the both of us, and her engagement ring polished," Brody explained, removing a small black box from his pocket.

"And what are the properties of this engagement ring?" Lila asked, not touching the box.

"Well, it appears to have some light magic qualities, but I'm not sure. She doesn't wear it enough to show any effects," Brody said.

"She's a light mage?" Lila asked.

"Well, yeah. Light mages marry light mages, right?" Brody replied uneasily.

"I see," Lila said, finally opening the box. Inside was a simple diamond ring. "Yes, it does have properties of light magic, but to what extent?" She began to muse to herself, subconsciously getting out of her chair to smack Blake's hand away from some rings.

"Well, like I said, we don't know," Brody stated.

"Only one way to find out!" Lila declared. She beckoned Blake over, who seemed to dread the prospect of wearing an engagement ring. "Oh, relax," Lila scolded. "Just hold it." Blake obeyed, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger.

"How much control do you have over your light magic?" Lentil asked.

"A pretty good amount," Blake said.

"He goes to a school where they teach combative and defensive magic,' Brody explained.

"Will-o-Wisp Academy or Ambergris Preparatory School?" Lila asked as she stared intently at the ring in Blake's fingers.

"Uh, Will-o-Wisp," Blake answered, surprised that she knew of the place. She nodded, as if in approval.

"Okay, now focus your energy into the ring, a little bit at a time," Lila instructed as she backed away from him.

"Why are you backing up?" Brody asked.

"Just in case he doesn't have enough control," Lila said. Lentil had not backed away, which seemed to contradict what Lila was doing.

"It's doing something!" Blake shouted. Brody moved forward to study the diamond. Surely enough, bright white lines were intersecting across the ring.

"What's making it do this?" Brody asked. Lila glanced up, catching sight of the ring.

"One of three things are happening," she said. "Either it's cracking, about to explode, or transforming."

"How do we know which is which?" Blake asked nervously.

"By the end result," Lentil said darkly. Blake swallowed. Before he could decide whether he should put the ring down or not, it changed. The light brightened and the diamond incredibly changed it's shape. Once the light had faded, they were left with a beautiful sight: the diamond had changed into the shape of a small rose.

"That's beautiful," Brody said, taking the ring from his brother. Immediately, it reverted back to it's original form.

"That ring takes light energy from the wearer and uses it to maintain that shape," Lila explained, gesturing for Brody to return it to the box. He obeyed, and Lila carefully wrapped up the box and handed it to Lentil. "Go and find someone to take care of this." With a nod, the dwarf vanished through the door.

"Now we need wedding bands," Brody said.

"Alright. Wedding bands for two light mages." Lila began to pace again. She walked over to one of walls with the nails and began to squint at them.

"Well, anything good?" Brody asked eagerly.

"You'll have to come back tomorrow morning," she said.

"What?! Why?" Brody demanded.

"It's too late right now," Lila said.

"We'll pay you extra,' Blake offered, noticing his older brother's distress. Lila shook her head.

"You don't understand. I can't find a light magic ring unless it's daytime. That's when they are distinguishable. And tomorrow, no other planet will be in it's power position. That will make it really easy to find," Lila said.

"Is there no way to get it any faster?" Brody asked. Lila shook her head again, making her curly blonde hair fly around in it's pony tail. Lentil walked back in, still with the engagement ring.

"It's night time now. I apologize, but we cannot clean this ring unless it is day," Lentil said, handing it back to Brody. "It will still be cleaned, though."

"Why are you so eager to get this done?" Lila asked. "Usually, both members of the couple are here."

"She's a little...overbearing when it comes to this sort of thing," Blake whispered.

"And that's why we want it done soon," Brody said. "She's coming tomorrow to help pick them out. I wanted to have one ready to avoid the hassle..."

"She must be terrible," Lentil said. "No offence."

"She isn't bad," Blake said, coming to his brothers rescue. "It's just that she'll spend several hours trying to make a decision, ask Brody what he thinks, consider everything for a few more hours, and eventually pick the one that Brody suggested."

Lentil let out a small grimace, which Lila presumably mimicked. "She can come in and help pick something out," the blue-bearded dwarf suggested.

"Yeah," Lila agreed as she showed the two gingers out of her workshop. "What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

**Chapter done.**

**Yay!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3!**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Blake let out a sigh as he walked into the workshop the next day. Brody's fiancée was sith them, chattering in her annoying way as usual.

"Where are we going now?" She asked, playing with her platinum hair. She, like Brody and Blake, was part of an important light family. The couple had met at a party and fell in love. Somehow, Brody put up with her annoying chatter, which only popped up when she was in a new place, like Razen. She could also be incredibly rude to "weirdos", which had gotten her into trouble multiple time, only for Brody to come and save her again and again.

"I told you, love, we're going to get our wedding rings, and get your ring polished," Brody said, arm and arm with the beautiful girl.

"I heard that this jeweler is especially talented," she said, eyeing the room with a frown. "Surely this isn't where it's located."

"This is it," Brody said, gesturing around the room.

"It's horribly tiny and sloppy," she said airily.

"Do you have a problem with tiny, sloppy things?" Lentil asked angrily. Tiny and sloppy were basically synonymous with his species.

"I do have a problem with it. Come on, Brody, let's leave," she frowned.

"Come on, Malery! Give this place a chance," Brody begged.

"It's the only one that hasn't turned you away," Blake muttered. He personally hated Malery, and she returned the feeling with zeal.

"What was that?" she snapped.

"You heard me. I think you should stop complaining about it. You don't want to get turned away after coming this far," Blake mocked.

"I just hate it here! It's stupid, ugly, and hot!"

"Oi! You had better watch your tone, missy, and your words. That's my home you're insulting," Lentil yelled, picking up an enormous axe off one of the tables. Malery readied herself to cast a light spell, but looked fairly unsure against the short, angry man with an axe.

"Hey! What's going on in here!" Lila shouted as she walked in, wrapping one of her hands into its bandages. She caught Blake staring at it. "What, do you think I sleep with these on?"

"Who are you?" Malery asked aggressively.

"I'm the jewelery maker," Lila replied, walking over to one of her tables.

"Her name is Lila, now be nice," Blake said. Malery shot him an angry look.

"I presume you're the bride to be?" Lila asked.

"Yes, I am. I'm here to help pick out rings," Malery said with a huff. Lila didn't appear to be listening. She was patting the pockets of her pants and looking around and under tables.

"Gloves. Where are my gloves?" she muttered. She checked underneath the enormous machine in the room.

"Um, excuse me?" Malery interrupted angrily.

"Hm? Oh, yes. Sorry. I suppose I could go without gloves today," she muttered, playing with the exposed tips of her fingers. "Alright, so rings."

"Finally!" Malery said.

"Yes. What properties were you looking for?" Lila asked as she began to search for something else.

"What do you mean?" Malery asked. Lila looked at her.

"The properties. Traits. Genes, if you must. What do you want it to do?" Lila asked absently.

"What can it do?" Malery asked.

Blake answered for Lila. "They can store magic, change engravings on the gold, even link you to the partner."

"It does not!" Malery said angrily. "Now, stop lying and getting in the way."

"He's right," Lila said, surprising them. "Before we go any further, do you have the engagement ring?"

"Yes, now get your gnome to go clean it," Malery said, tossing it to Lentil. He caught it, looking absolutely enraged.

"Why you little twit! Who the hell are you calling a gnome?!" he screeched with rage, grabbing a dagger and swinging it at Malery. It wouldn't have been a serious threat because of his height, but he was currently standing on a table, at their level. Lila grabbed the blade of the dagger before it could collide with Malery's face.

"Lentil, what's the only rule in this workshop that applies to you?" she asked.

"No killing anyone," Lentil said angrily. "But outside the workshop..."

"That's frowned upon, but also not my problem," Lila said. "Can you please clean the ring for me?"

"I dunno," he grumbled.

"Please?" Lila asked.

The dwarf sighed. "Fine."

"Thank you," Lila said as he disappeared out the door. She turned to Malery. "Please don't antagonize them. They will push you into the lava."

"Can we please forget about that? This place is giving me a rash!" Malery exclaimed. Lila sighed inwardly. The gingers had described Malery fairly well yesterday, but failed to leave out the fact that she was a total bitch.

"Alright, I took the liberty to lay out a few rings here," Lila said, gesturing to the table next to her. "That's half of the pair. The other half are hidden away for the time being. Please don't remove the tags with the letters on them." Malery and Brody walked over.

"Hey Blake! Want to be our tester?" Brody asked jokingly.

"No!" Malery screeched. "It's just supposed to be us, not him!"

"It's okay. He can chill back here with me," Lila said from beside the giant machine. "Just call if you need some help." Blake walked over to Lila and sat on the stool.

"So, what do you think of my brother's fiancée?" Blake asked as they watched Malery try infuse some of her light magic into the ring, only to fail continuously. Brody kept having to do it for her.

"You failed to mention her...aggressive personality," Lila whispered. Blake laughed, causing Malery to whip her head around and glare at him.

"She doesn't like me," Blake said.

"No? I thought you two were peas in a pod," Lila mocked.

"Can you help us over here?" Malery called out suddenly. Lila got up and walked over.

"What appears to be the problem?" she inquired.

"Well, we've been looking through these rings, and we like that one a lot," Brody said, pointing at one separate from the group. Lila smiled at their choice. It was a golden ring studded with diamond, which could double and store energy. It sparkled more with the increase in energy stored inside of it. It was a win for bling and for offensive or defensive fighting.

"Okay. Would you like to purchase them?" Lila asked.

"Well, maybe. Malery also likes this one," Brody said, pointing to Malery's finger, where a similar ring was placed.

"I can't get it to do anything though!" Malery whined.

"Well, that ring is for energy storage only," Lila explained.

"Why doesn't it sparkle like the other one?" Malery asked.

"It's just for energy storage. I'm sure that Blake could demonstrate how it-,"

"I don't need him to demonstrate anything! Just because he has better control over his magical output doesn't mean he's any better than me!" Malery screamed.

"I'm sure you're output just needs a little work to increase the energy," Lila said, assuming that Malery couldn't generate enough light energy to add anything to the ring.

That was probably the worst thing she could have said.

"You have no right to say that, you stupid little peasant girl!" Malery shouted. This really made Lila mad.

"You have no right to be in this room. The only people invited in were Brody and Blake. People pay thousands of dollars just to be allowed in this city. What gives you the right to just barge in?" Lila demanded. Blake was impressed by Lila's temper.

"I don't have to take this!" Malery shouted.

"You're absolutely right. Now, get the hell out!" Lila growled. Malery's face changed from angry and hostile to angry and desperate.

"Please! Just sell us the rings!" She pleaded.

Lila looked at her with disgust. "You come in here, insult my friend, treat him like scum, and then insult my adopted home, and you still expect me to be nice and civil? Why the hell should I sell you anything?" Malery looked at the blonde girl, her face etched with anger.

Fine!" she screamed, shoving Lila. The second her hands touched Lila, a massive amount of energy from the engagement ring on Malery's finger. It then pulsed into her, traveling through her body, and blasting Lila back like a rag doll. Lila hit the machine behind her with so much force, it left a foot-deep dent. She landed on her side, her muscles tensing and untensing as spider webs of light energy coursed around her.

"What did you do?" Blake shouted, moving to help Lila. Before he could touch her, Lentil came back into the room with an elderly dwarf.

"Hey, Grenadine is here to..." He froze when he saw Lila on the ground. "What have you done to her?!" he screamed as he and Grenadine ran forward and dragged Blake away.

"It was her fault," Blake shouted, pointing to Malery. Lentil looked at her with deep anger.

"She was just angry. That's all. She didn't mean to," Brody defended.

"Lentil, get me some scissors. We need to assess the damage," Grenadine said as he touched Lila's face. She didn't appear to be moving. "Quickly boy!"

"Here," Lentil said, handing the elder dwarf a pair of sharp golden scissors. He snipped through the bandages on Lila's arms, pulling them back. The dwarf let out a gasp when he saw her skin. The black lines that had always covered the girl's arms were changing, as if they were filling with light. After a few moments, they were completely white.

"What the hell just happened?" Brody asked, forgetting the current situation.

"I'll tell you what happened," Grenadine snarled. "This poor girl came to us so she could recover from light magic poisoning. It was almost out of her system until this stupid woman came in here and decided to blast her with light magic again. Now, she has to stay here even longer to make sure it doesn't kill her."

"Grenadine," Lentil warned suddenly.

"Yes boy? What is it?" He asked impatiently.

"She's not waking up," Lentil said. Grenadine ran to Lila's other side.

"We need to get these bandages off of her. Maybe it's not as bad as we thought," Grenadine said. Lentil ran from the room, and returned a few seconds later with several other dwarves.

"We can help," Blake offered.

"No!" Grenadine shouted. "You all have done enough damage to this place! You three are forbidden to ever return to Razen!"

"What?! What about the rings!" Malery said shrilly.

"You think that, after all this, we're going to sell you anything? OUT! Before I decide to kill you!" Lentil roared. With that, the three light mages were gone, leaving Lentil, Grenadine, and the other dwarves to try and save Lila's life.

* * *

**Chapter done.**

**Yay!**


	4. Chapter 4

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

* * *

Blake sat down in a chair, his face in his hands. It had been three days since the incident on Razen. It was also the day of the wedding between Malery and Brody, and the future Mrs. Lambeth was having a melt down. Blake could still hear the screams of anger from down the hall.

"This isn't fair!" she sobbed, shoving bridesmaids away as they tried to comfort her. "Why couldn't they just sell the rings to us?"

"Maybe because you're a stupid twit," Blake muttered, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. Blake assumed that Malery would either call off the entire wedding at the last second, or just suck it up and use stand in rings until they could get actual rings.

Blake chuckled to himself. Malery would never settle for anything less than what she wanted. So, he could safely assume that there'd be no wedding today.

"Whatcha laughing about, son?" Blake's father asked as he sat down next to his son. "A lady in distress is nothing to laugh about."

Blake snorted. "She's more of a tramp than a lady, Dad."

Mr. Lambeth looked at his son with a disapproving frown. "Son, she is your future sister-in-law," he chided. "You should start thinking about finding a girl for yourself-."

"Dad, no," Blake interrupted.

"Maybe that Cindy girl, or Elaine, or her twin sister Eleanor, or Helena, or-."

"Dad, just stop," Blake groaned.

"Come on, son, marriage isn't that bad," Mr. Lambeth said.

"Well, Malery is," Blake countered.

"Don't be rude, son. Your brother has chosen a fine bride. She is beautiful and smart, and she has a wonderful family."

Blake sighed to himself. "Don't you mean she's trashy, stupid, and has a rich family? Isn't that the only reason you approve of her? So you and mom might get some of her family's money?"

"Now son, don't go spreading lies like that," Mr. Lambeth said. Blake felt his teeth go on edge.

"Dad, can you please stop calling me "son"? It's annoying. I know that I'm your son," Blake said.

"Alright son, if that's what you really want," Mr. Lambeth said.

"Dad, you did it again," Blake muttered.

"Oh, I'm sorry son," Mr. Lambeth said.

"You know what? I'm done. I'm just done with everything within thirty feet of me, right now. That includes you and bridezilla. I'm going to find mom," Blake said as he got up and stomped away, leaving his dad on the bench, bewildered.

"What a strange boy," Mr. Lambeth muttered as he got up and walked away.

Blake had gone in the opposite direction of bridezilla and took a left into the reception hall where he knew his mother would be. He found her at the bar, which wasn't supposed to be in service before the wedding started. She probably slipped the bartender a hundred dollar bill.

"There you are Mom," Blake said as he sat on a bar stool next to his mom, who was draining a glass of alcohol with disturbing ease. Mrs. Lambeth looked at her son, her blue eyes unfocused as she struggled to recognize him.

"Hey! there's my son! Are you excited to get married today, Brody?" she asked. Blake grimaced, sad that she was already too drunk to tell her sons apart. It was pretty insulting, too. Brody was taller, and a lot paler than Blake, and his ginger hair was in a buzz cut. Blake, on the other hand, was shorter, tanner, and had incredibly long and shaggy hair.

"Mom, it's not Brody. I'm Blake," he tried to explain, knowing it was useless.

"Another, please," Mrs. Lambeth demanded. Blake looked at the bartender and shook his head. The bartender simply took the glasses away and left the bar.

"Come on Mom. Let's find a place for you to lie down," Blake said, taking his mom by the elbow.

"No!" She shouted. "I want my drink! Where is that barkeeper?" She yanked her elbow around, nailing Blake in the eye with it and cutting part of his face with the rhinestone on her sleeves. He didn't reel back, though: this sort of thing had happened before.

"Mom, the bartender is gone. You're drunk-."

"I am not drunk!" Mrs. Lambeth declared, tossing her red hair angrily.

"Oh yeah? Try walking then," Blake challenged.

"Fine," Mrs. Lambeth said, rising up and taking a few wobbly steps before passing out on the ground.

"Wow, you must really be hammered," Blake muttered. It took a lot of alcohol to knock his mom out like that. He sighed and took her under the elbows and dragged her into a chair.

"Amy, where are you?" Mr. Lambeth called, walking into the room. He had apparently gone looking for Blake's mom as well, and probably had the same idea as to where to look.

"She's over here, Dad!" Blake called. Mr. Lambeth hurried over.

"Dear Lord, son. How much did she have to drink?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Blake said, turning back to the bar where the bartender had reappeared, cleaning glasses with a white wash cloth.

"She had only four glasses, sir," the bartender said.

"Of what?" Blake asked. His mom had an incredible tolerance to alcohol, especially considering how long she had been an addict. She typically drank four glasses a day.

"This," the bartender said, holding up a bottle of slightly green liquid. "It comes from my home planet."

"And what is your home planet?" Mr. Lambeth asked.

"Why, my home planet is the plant planet," the bartender said with a grin. "Gren, of course. Can't you tell?"

"How am I supposed to tell what planet you are from by just looking at you?" Mr. Lambeth asked, annoyed.

"Well, sir, Gren is where the cat village Tropica is located. Seeing that I am a cat, I must be from Tropica, so I must be from Gren," the bartender said with a grin.

"Stupid laborer, talks as if I'm not more intelligent than him. That could get him fired!" Mr. Lambeth said, not even trying to keep his voice down. The bartender frowned, and Blake shot him an apologetic look. The bartender shrugged and went back to what he was doing.

"Dad, we should probably hide mom," Blake said, sad that this was not the first time they have hidden her.

"Sirs, if I may, I do have something that may help," the bartender said, pulling out a small vial of blue liquid. "If she drinks a glass of this, she should be as good as new in about ten minutes."

"Really? And you'll let us use it?" Blake asked.

"Yes, of course. You are the ones paying me, after all. It is the least I could do," the bartender said with a sharp, earnest smile. "But I must warn you that the lady will have to use the rest room as the liquid takes effect."

"I'll take her to the private bathroom," Mr. Lambeth said, picking up Mrs. Lambeth and carrying her from the room without a word of thanks. Blake sighed and sat at one of the chairs.

"Here you go," the cat said happily as he got out a towel and some ice, handing it to Blake. "This is for your face."

"Thanks for that," Blake said, laying his head down on the towel. "And for whatever was in that vial."

"Would you like a bottle, perhaps?" he asked, pulling out another, larger bottle of the liquid.

"Um, sure?" Blake said, taking the bottle.

"You don't realize what you've got there," the bartender said. "It is something that I created myself. It goes through the body and purges anything that was not supposed to be there originally, cleaning it out."

"Really? That's incredible!" Blake said. "And you're just giving it away?"

"Well, with the amount of money that I am being paid, I will be able to return to my home and retire happily," the bartender said with a wide smile. "I will be able to make a lot more of these than what I already have."

Blake smiled as he slipped the bottle into his pocket, glad that the man was so happy. He pondered the liquid a second before receiving a jolt.

"This potion, it works on everything, you say? Purging everything hostile from the body?" Blake asked.

"More or less," the bartender said, confused by the sudden eagerness.

"What about magic poisoning?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not," the bartender said with a shake of his head. "I created this to try and help someone with magic poisoning but it had no effect."

"Oh, okay," Blake said, slightly downcast. He watched as his father walked back into the room and sat on the stool next to him, asking for some water.

"Your mother is in the bathroom," Mr. Lambeth said.

"How is she doing?" Blake asked.

"She's fine," he said, turning to the bartender. "You must allow me to sell whatever was in that vial."

"I'm afraid that I am retiring," the bartender said. "I won't be sharing that secret any time soon."

Blake's dad scowled and took a sip of his water. The bartender felt an awkwardness beginning to settle in and decided to restart the conversation that he had been having with Blake.

"Who do you know with magic poisoning?" the bartender prompted.

"Just this girl on Razen," Blake said. He froze when he heard his father choke on his water.

"A girl?" Mr. Lambeth gasped out. "I see you've been keeping some secrets. What's her name?"

Blake muttered something incoherently.

"I think that I may have an idea who she is," the bartender said. "She is the one I made the liquid for in the first place."

"You couldn't possibly know the girl who my son might one day marry," Mr. Lambeth scoffed.

"Considering that there are only one human girl living on Razen, among living pots and dwarves and thousands of monsters, I am fairly certain that we are talking about the same person," the bartender said, showing no signs of hostility. "It is the jeweler, isn't it?"

"Well, she's the only girl I've ever carried a conversation who doesn't make me want to rip my face off or cry for the overall stupidity of humanity, but I don't really know her," Blake said, his face getting slightly red.

"Son, this is probably the best news I've heard all day," Mr. Lambeth said.

"Well, she absolutely hates light mages now, so they aren't going to become an "item" anytime soon," Brody said as he sat in the stool on the other side of Blake.

"And why would that be?" the bartender asked.

"Malery killed her," Brody said, getting shocked glances from his dad and the bartender.

"She might not be dead," Blake said, trying to optimistic.

"Okay, Malery almost killed her," Brody corrected himself.

"This does not surprise me, sadly," Mr. Lambeth said.

"So you admit she's bad!" Blake shouted.

"No, I didn't say that," Mr. Lambeth began, putting his hands up, but he didn't get the chance to explain himself.

"You know what? Fine, that's all I have to say, and that's all that matters. You two aren't the ones marrying her: I am," Brody said, getting up from the stool and storming away.

"I wish them the best of luck," the bartender muttered, only loud enough for Blake to hear.

"I'm going to check on your mother," Mr. Lambeth said, getting up. "The wedding starts in twenty minutes. She needs to be ready."

"If there even is a wedding," Blake muttered, hearing the ever lasting shrieks coming from the bride down the hall.

"Be a little more optimistic. Love always finds a way," the bartender said. Blake looked at him with an appreciative smile.

"You're a pretty cool guy," Blake said. The bartender returned Blake's smile with a toothy grin of his own

"Thanks. Just doing my-." He was cut off by a loud shout.

"Blake! Get your scrawny butt in here!" Malery was screaming.

Blake froze. "Alright, now I can either stay here or make a run for it."

"Just go. Get it over with. She's the bride, after all," the bartender said. Blake swallowed nervously.

"Alright. Here goes nothing," he said, getting up and walking out of the room. He paused to look back. "If I'm not back in five minutes..."

"Come looking for you?" the bartender asked. Blake shook his head.

"No, don't bother looking for me. Just start making my funeral arrangements," he said grimly, a little to serious for comfort. He disappeared down the hall and cautiously entered the room of the bride, taking a pause to look at the night sky outside a window before shutting the door.

After all, who knew if he'd ever get another chance.

* * *

**Chapter done!**

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**Point out my spelling errors, please.**

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**~CatKkit.**


	5. Chapter 5

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

* * *

Blake coughed slightly as he entered the bride's room. Apparently, her family had splurged a bit on her room. It was completely white, with sofas and lounge chairs everywhere. Her poor bridesmaids were sitting, embarrassed by the bride's raging. They must have been embarrassed by their hideous pink dresses as well.

Malery probably took the cake when it came to the most ridiculous dress. It looked like someone had taken a cupcake, smashed it upside down, mushed it a little more, and then covered it in roses and glitter. The dress probably had enough material to make three wedding dresses total. And there was so much perfume in the room that Blake was surprised that no one had suffocated yet.

Blake took that moment to thank the Lord that he was a boy. All he had to wear was a simple tuxedo with a stupid white flower in it.

"There you are," Malery said, turning away from the floor length mirror where she was examining herself, specifically her face. It wasn't a pretty picture. Her mascara was running from all of her tears, making her look like a panda. One of the bridesmaids had the foresight to tie a towel around Malery's neck to stop her from getting blotches on her dress.

"Here I am," Blake said.

"This is all your fault," she accused. Blake realized what was going on. Today, Malery was the bride. She could basically do whatever she wanted. It wasn't like the bridesmaids or the maid of honor could stop her. To make matters worse, Brody, the one who kept the peace between Malery and Blake, was not in the room. He wasn't allowed to see the bride until she was coming up the aisle.

So, Malery basically had Blake trapped, but she did not have him out gunned, so to speak.

"What is my fault?" Blake asked, playing dumb.

"The rings! It's your fault that we don't have wedding rings!" she declared. Blake let out an audible sigh.

"Your telling me that I did something to antagonize the dwarves," Blake stated.

"Yes," Malery said, crossing her arms. "And the jeweler, too."

"As opposed to what you did?" Blake asked.

"What?" Malery asked, sounding legitimately confused. Blake sighed sadly. Malery couldn't play stupid, considering that she already was stupid.

"I don't know. Maybe it's your fault," Blake said, musing. The bridesmaids were watching Blake and Malery with extreme caution, waiting for the inevitable bomb to go off.

"Um, maybe you shouldn't do that," the nearest bridesmaid said.

"No, let him talk. I want to know what he's going to say," Malery said.

"Maybe they didn't sell you anything because you insulted everything that the dwarves stood for, and their home," Blake suggested.

"That's so stupid. It's not something that a normal person would get worked up over. They're weirdos," Malery said, a glint of triumph in her eyes. "So it is your fault."

"No, I still think it may be your fault," Blake said.

"It is your fault. Admit it," Malery said, turning away, satisfied.

"No, it's all your fault, actually," Blake said, starting to get irritated.

"Sure it is," Malery mocked gloatingly. "Keep telling yourself that."

"At least I didn't kill the jeweler," Blake muttered.

"What?" Malery asked, not hearing him.

"At least I didn't kill Lila," Blake said, ignoring the alarmed look that he received from the bridesmaid sitting near him. He was looking at Malery with a level of coldness that made her shiver.

"She isn't dead," Malery said immediately, though she didn't sound very convinced.

"I'm not so sure," Blake said lazily. "You did hit her pretty hard."

"He's lying!" Malery shouted as the bridesmaids around her began to mutter to themselves.

"I guess your right," Blake said with an easy smile. "But she's probably dying, or in a coma." Blake didn't like joking about death, but he really _really_ didn't like Malery.

"Shut up!" she hissed. "And wipe that stupid grin off your face!" She slapped him, hard, her engagement ring leaving a deep gouge on top of the bruise that his mother had given him.

"Shit," Blake hissed as blood began to run into his eye and down his face.

"You got my ring dirty!" Malery screamed, hitting him again and creating another deep scratch. "Get out!"

Blake gladly left the room, but couldn't go two steps before Brody pounced on him.

"Is she okay? What did she want?" Brody asked. Blake turned his face away, but not before his brother caught sight of all the blood. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Nothing," Blake muttered, turning away. "Malery just wanted to smooth out some arguments. Like, make amends or something. That's it."

"That's good to know," Brody said. Blake sighed as he entered the reception room again. Sometimes his brother was as stupid as Malery.

"Woah! What happened to you?" the bartender asked when he caught sight of Blake's face.

"What do you think happened?" Blake asked angrily. "Stupid Malery nailed be in the face twice."

"Dang. Here, let me see," the bartender said. He pulled out another cloth and handed it to Blake, who began to mop the blood off of his face.

"Sorry about all this," Blake said with a sigh.

"It's no problem. I can see that you need help," the bartender said. "Not in the crazy way, though."

"Oh shit," Blake muttered, looking down at his shirt. The white fabric was now stained with blood.

"Here, I've got a spare," the bartender said, handing Blake an identical white shirt.

"Um, can I ask why?" Blake asked, cautiously grabbing the shirt from the cat.

"I know how some weddings get, so I tend to have spare articles of clothing, should an incident like this one arise," he said.

"Thanks," Blake said. "I'm going to put it on now." He got up from the stool.

"Alright, but make sure that the bleeding has completely stopped before you put it on," the bartender said. He got out a pack of disinfectant and butterfly bandages. "Use this to dress the wound."

"Thank you," Blake said, for what felt like the thousandth time that day. He was glad that his dad had managed to hire the most helpful bartender in the solar system. He quickly walked out of the room and into the nearest bathroom. He locked the door behind himself and walked over to the mirror, taking off his black jacket and tie, both of which had been luckily saved from all the blood. His shirt had red droplets all over it, so he quickly removed it.

He grabbed a paper towel from the basket and turned on the faucet. After making the paper towel wet, he began to wash the smears of blood off of his chest, sighing as he went around dozens of scars. He had gotten the scars in a car accident. He had foolishly decided to not wear a seatbelt, and ended up going through the windshield of both his parents car and the car that they crashed into. The crash wasn't his fault; it was his mothers. The accursed woman had been drunk, and she had gotten of scotch free.

Blake shook himself and put on the spare shirt, pleased to find it to be his size. He looked at the blood stained one for a few seconds before throwing it away. He could always buy a new one. He unwrapped a disinfectant swab and cleaned out his scratches, which had thankfully stopped bleeding. He took out several of the small butterfly bandages and put them over the scratches, effectively keeping them closed.

As he exited the bathroom, he could still hear the panicked cries of the bride. The hallways were now empty as the guests went into the hall to sit and wait for the wedding to begin. The wedding was scheduled to start in five minutes.

"Well, I don't think there is going to be a wedding today," Blake commented to the bartender as he walked into the room again.

"Why do you say that?" the bartender asked as Blake sat down.

"There aren't any rings. Malery is going to have a nervous breakdown," Blake said.

"Actually, the rings were brought here by a messenger and given to the ring bearer," the bartender said. "Your father came in here to pay for them."

"Really?" Blake asked.

"Yeah," the bartender said. "Your brother was there, too. He was so happy that he asked the messenger to stay for the wedding."

"Darn it," Blake muttered. "Now there is no way that they won't get married." A noise by the door made both Blake and the bartender look up. Malery was making her way past the door, huge dress and all, tears of relief coming down her face. Blake realized that he wouldn't be able to make it into the hall before the bride did.

"Aren't you the best man?" the bartender asked, slightly alarmed.

"No, my brother asked his best friend to be the best man," Blake said with a frown.

"Ouch, that must hurt," the bartender said. "Tell me about it later. I suggest that you get in there and watch your brother get married. It might give you some ideas."

"You sound just like my dad," Blake muttered. He still got up and walked out of the room, entering the chapel through a side door and standing behind a white pillar. There was no where for him to sit, so he decided to make due with what he had.

Blake had to admit that it was a fairly nice ceremony. Brody read some truly heartfelt vows, while Malery read some equally tear-jerking ones in return. She had probably gotten one of the bridesmaids to write it for her. The rings were placed, and the celebrant announced the young couples official union.

The congregation began to file out after the bride and groom, eager to get to the reception area for food and drink. Everyone except Blake, that is. He was staring blankly at the altar, his mind on overdrive as he thought about what he had just seen as well as what the bartender had told him. He came up with a single question.

Who brought the rings?

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**Yay!**

**Point out spelling errors.**

**Thanks,**

**~CatKkit.**


	6. Chapter 6

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Blake walked into the reception hall, slightly numb. It was the day after the wedding, and he had snuck away from his parents to go and talk to the bartender again.

"So, you're going back to Gren, eh?" Blake asked, surprising the cat, who was packing up the last of the bottles.

"Yeah. I have been away from my family for a long time," the bartender said. He looked at Blake's face closely, examining the still red scratches. "Those are going to scar, you know."

"Some people would say that it improves my face," Blake muttered.

"Girls find scars attractive, son," Mr. Lambeth said, coming up next to Blake. "How did you get those, anyway?"

"I fell and hit my head on a table," Blake lied, his heart stinging from his father's comment.

"You should be more careful, son," Mr. Lambeth commented. The bartender seemed surprised by Blake's lie, but he said nothing about it.

"Dad, who brought the rings to the reception?" Blake asked suddenly.

"Some dwarf," Mr. Lambeth said with a distasteful frown. "Your brother was very thankful of him."

"I can imagine," Blake murmured. "He practically saved the wedding."

"You've got that right," Brody said, appearing next to his brother. "The dwarf even got the one that Malery liked so much."

"We should send them a thank you gift," Mr. Lambeth muttered.

"I could deliver it," Blake said, surprising the people around him.

"Are you sure you want to go back to Razen, son? I thought you hated it there," Mr. Lambeth commented.

"Besides, we have a life ban, remember?" Brody pointed out.

"It'll be fine," Blake said, not willing to be deterred. Mr. Lambeth smiled widely.

"What are you smiling about, Dad?" Brody asked, noticing the beaming grin directed towards Blake.

"You can go, son," Mr. Lambeth said. "I have a good gift to give the dwarf."

"How will he get there?" Brody asked. "The ship is all out of fuel. It'll take a day to get to the docking station."

"He can ride with me," the bartender suggested. "Gren is pretty close to Razen. I can take him there. I planned on visiting Razen anyway. I have a new potion that may be able to help with magic poisoning."

"Are you sure you'll take me?" Blake asked, surprised again by the cat's assistance.

"Yeah, it's not a problem. Besides, I know the dwarves. With luck, they won't send you away immediately if I'm there, especially with what I have to offer." the bartender said.

"Sounds good," Mr. Lambeth said. "Hurry up and get packed, son. You need to get out of here before your mother wakes up."

"She's so hungover that she won't be awake until next week," Blake muttered as he got out of the stool and headed to his room.

"If I may ask, sir, why are you allowing Blake to go back to Razen?" the bartender asked, directing his question towards Mr. Lambeth. "You know of the risk that is posed when it comes to returning to a place with a life ban over your head."

"I can see that my son is interested in a girl. It is a strong enough interest that he is willing to take the risk to visit her planet and see if she is alive," Mr. Lambeth said.

"Yeah. We were beginning to think that Blake wasn't interested in girls," Brody said.

"I see," the bartender said.

"Brody, go and get the gift for the dwarves," Mr. Lambeth said. "Go through the safe and find something that they'd like. And something for that girl, too."

"I'm on it, Dad," Brody said, disappearing from the bar.

...

Blake slipped out of his room, his pack on his back. He was trying to be quiet as he walked through the halls, not wanting to disturb anyone. That failed.

"What are you doing?" a voice asked from behind him. Blake turned around, feeling a deep sense of dread when he recognized the platinum blonde hair.

"None of your business, Malery," Blake muttered.

"I think it is my business," Malery said, crossing her arms. "After all, you are my brother-in-law now."

"I don't have to tell you anything," Blake said, turning to walk away.

"Yeah, you do! I'm in charge of you now!" Malery said, angry that Blake was not obeying her.

"You married my brother. That's it. I'm not your servant, slave, or brother. We just happen to know the same person," Blake said as he continued down the hall.

"No, you have to listen to me!" Malery screeched, probably waking half of the hall.

"No, I don't," Blake hissed. "No one died and made you my legal guardian. As far as I'm concerned, you can go to hell!" Blake hurried down the hall now, ignoring Malery's angry shouts. By the time he got back to the reception room, her cries had stopped.

"Here you go," Brody said, handing two small boxes to his brother. "One is for the dwarf, the other is for the jeweler." Blake quickly deposited them into his pack.

"Are you ready to go?" the bartender asked as he and Mr. Lambeth finished some sort of talk.

"Yeah, more than ready," Blake said. He turned to Brody. "I woke Malery up on accident, and now she's really cranky."

"Great," Brody said. He clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Good luck in Razen," he said before hurrying out the door.

"Son, make sure you get back on that girl's good side," Mr. Lambeth said. "She may be the only one you'll ever get a chance with."

"Dad, I barely know her," Blake said, sounding really annoyed.

"That's how it always starts, son," Mr. Lambeth said. "I'll see you when you get back. I'll be expecting good news."

"Dad, stop being so overbearing," Blake complained. "It's getting old."

"Try inviting her over for dinner, son," Mr. Lambeth suggested. Blake shot him an irritated look.

"I think we should go now," the bartender suggested.

"Yeah, we probably should," Blake agreed.

"Have fun, son. Just make sure it isn't too much fun," Mr. Lambeth said with a wink as the two travelers exited the room, arms laden down with boxes and bags. "And make sure you hurry back! Your mom will miss you!"

"She probably won't notice I'm gone," Blake muttered. "She'll be too drunk for that." The bartender decided not to comment on this, and the two remained silent until they arrived at the bartender's rocket.

"Here she is," the bartender said as they approached a magnificent space craft. It was sleek and silver, not a single imperfection to be seen. It looked like a giant silver sunflower seed that had been tipped on its side.

"Wow," Blake said in awe. "That is one nice rocket."

"Thanks," the bartender said. "This job pays well."

"I can tell," Blake said as they boarded the craft. "This couldn't have been cheap."

"Like I said, this job pays well," the bartender said as he settled into the pilot's seat, gesturing for Blake to sit next to him.

"How long do you think the journey will be?" Blake asked. "In Brody's rocket, it took a day."

"Well, in this one, it'll only take a few hours," the bartender said. "Lucky for us, both Razen and Gren are very close today, and will remain that way for a few weeks. Travel between the two will be easy."

"That's good to know," Blake said with a nod. The two fell into a comfortable silence, listening to the music from the space radio station.

"May I make a suggestion?" the bartender asked after about an hour.

"What?" Blake asked, jerking out of a doze.

"Maybe you should get changed," the bartender said, gesturing to Blake's pajamas. "We're arriving soon, so you may want to be presentable."

"Shoot," Blake said, jumping up. "That's probably a good idea."

"And change the bandages on your face," the bartender added.

"Got it!" Blake called from the back of the rocket.

"And use disinfectant!" the bartender added.

"Okay!" Blake shouted back, rolling his eyes. The bartender acted just like a mother. Not Blake's mother, but just a mother.

The bartender sat in his seat, watching as the red planet came into view. He began to wonder if it was a good idea to bring Blake back here. Anything could go wrong. Some of the massive monsters could appear and try to kill him. The dwarves might try to kill him. Even the pot folk might try to kill him.

The bartender sighed as he began to realize what he had gotten himself into.

"Thanks for the reminder," Blake said as he slid back into his seat.

"Not a problem," the bartender said. Something in his voice mad Blake think that he was holding something back.

"Is something wrong?" Blake asked.

"Not really," the bartender said. "I did want to return to my family, at least to visit for a short period..."

"And?" Blake prompted.

"Would it be alright with you if, after we've ensured that the dwarves aren't going to kill you, I return to Gren for a day to see my family and drop off my goods?" the bartender asked. He shook his head. "No, I cannot abandon you there. It's too much of a risk."

"No, it's fine," Blake said. "It'd be fun to stay there for a little while."

"Are you sure?" the bartender asked.

"Yeah. We just have to make sure that the dwarves aren't going to kill me first," Blake said, only half-joking. "Not that my mother would care."

...

"Where the hell is Blake?" Mrs. Lambeth shouted. Mr. Lambeth was wrong when he assumed that his wife wouldn't notice her son's absence.

"He went to Razen," Brody muttered, too quiet for his mom to hear.

"What was that?" Mrs. Lambeth asked, turning on her son.

"Nothing, dear. He just went home ahead of us. He wasn't feeling too good," Mr. Lambeth said, trying to cover for his son. It looked like Mrs. Lambeth was going to believe him.

"He went to Razen," Malery said, making the two men silently curse her in their heads. "He went with that bartender. To give a thank you gift to the dwarf, or whatever."

"He did what?" Mrs. Lambeth turned and screamed at her husband, "And you let him go? Are you out of your mind?"

"He had a legitimate reason," Brody said, coming to his dad's rescue.

"And what would that be?" Mrs. Lambeth asked icily. Mr. Lambeth swallowed, gesturing for Brody to continue.

"Well Mom, Blake met this girl on Razen..." Brody trailed off.

"And?" Mrs. Lambeth prompted.

"Well, dear, it looks like he really likes her," Mr. Lambeth said.

"What, the jeweler?" Malery snorted. "That little peasant girl? She's a joke, and a piece of trash."

"Now, don't be so rude, dear," Brody said. "Maybe she isn't always like that."

"Who is this girl?" Mrs. Lambeth asked.

"She has somehow gained the interest of our son," Mr. Lambeth said. "I would say that makes her a miracle worker."

"How do I know that she actually exists?" Mrs. Lambeth asked suspiciously.

"Blake is inviting her over for dinner," Mr. Lambeth said quickly. "Then you can meet her."

"He had better get her here. If he comes home without her, I will pull him from Will-o-Wisp," Mrs. Lambeth threatened. "I'm going to have a drink."

"I'll go with you," Malery said, walking out of the room. Once the two women were gone, Brody and Mr. Lambeth practically collapsed on the couch.

"What are we going to do?" Brody asked. "Blake is going to kill me."

"Us. He's going to kill us," Mr. Lambeth corrected. He ran his hand over his face. "Contact the rocket. Hopefully they haven't arrived at Razen yet. Tell him the news."

"Got it, Dad," Brody said, jumping up and exiting the room.

...

"Mom said what?!" Blake shouted into the microphone.

"Don't panic. It will be fine," Brody said, trying to soothe his brother. It wasn't working.

"Are you bonkers? I don't even know if I'm allowed on the planet!" Blake yelled.

"We are landing in seven minutes," the bartender said.

"Oh god," Blake said, putting his head in his hands.

"Relax Blake! Just use some of that Lambeth charm!" Brody said, trying to be encouraging.

"I'm going to get pulled out of school because of my idiot father and brother," Blake hissed. "Maybe if I tell Lila about my problem, she'll take pity on me..."

"No! Blake, that's the wimpy way out. Look, you have a week until mom expects you back. I might be able to get you even a month. Try to charm her first," Brody said.

"I don't even know if she likes me!" Blake said. "I don't even know if I like her!"

"You won't know until you try," Brody said.

"She probably hates me for what Malery did," Blake muttered.

"Malery did it, not you. It's not your fault," Brody pointed out, not sounding happy that he had to put the blame on his wife.

"We are entering the atmosphere in a minute. Communications will be offline until we land, and I don't think we'll have very much time for talking," the bartender said.

"Alright. Goodbye, Brody. Thank you for ruining my life," Blake muttered.

"Oh, come off it. It's not that bad," Brody said. "Consider it a little push towards love."

"Tell Dad that I'm going to kill him when he get's home," Blake said angrily. "And send him and mom my love."

"Alright. Bye, Blake. Good luck," Brody said. And with that, the line turned to static. Blake sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"I wouldn't relax if I were you," the bartender said as he peered out the window. "Looks like we have company." Blake leaned forward. Sure enough, there was a dwarf waiting on the ground near the only landing pad.

"I guess they were expecting us," Blake muttered.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" the bartender mused as the ship touched down.

* * *

**Chapter done.**

**Yay!**

**I hope you all like it!**

**I want to thank my two reviewers.**

**You guys are awesome!**

**Thanks,**

**~CatKkit.**


	7. Chapter 7

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Blake felt a jolt of nervousness go through him as the rocket's engines shut off and the hatch opened. He grabbed his pack and, with the bartender, stepped out of the rocket and into the dry heat of Razen.

"Hello again," the dwarf said, eyeing Blake with distaste. Blake recognized him immediately.

"Hey Lentil!" Blake said, trying to sound friendly. The dwarf looked ready to start yelling at Blake, but the bartender stepped forward.

"Lentil! My old friend!" the bartender exclaimed happily. Lentil was caught off guard as the cat hugged him.

"Welcome, Farro! It is good to see you," Lentil said happily. His smile vanished when he looked back at Blake. "Why are you here with him?"

"Why, he has come with a thank you gift, for both the messenger and Lila!" Farro said.

"No one is allowed to see Lila," Lentil said darkly. "At least no outsider."

"But, as I have heard, the accident was not Blake's fault," Farro said.

"Still, he is banned from the planet," Lentil said. "Consider yourself lucky that I was the one here when your rocket touched down. Any other dwarf would have killed you on the spot."

"Why should he be banned from the planet if the accident was not his fault?" Farro asked.

"He brought the girl, Malery, here," Lentil said.

"No, he did not," Farro argued. "It was his brother, Brody, who brought Malery here. Blake was there to be an observer and an advisor to his brother." Lentil looked as if he were struggling with the argument.

"I still can't allow him to see Lila, or return to Macaroon," Lentil said.

"Are you sure you cannot? I will not enter Macaroon without him," Farro said.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lentil asked suspiciously.

"Well, I have a new type of potion that may be able to help Lila. It only works with the assistance of a light mage," Farro said. Blake couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

"Really?" Lentil asked, sounding hopeful.

"Really. I have not yet tested it on light magic poisoning, but it has worked well on other types," Farro said.

"Then why don't you just get one of the light mages that you used in those cases?" Lentil asked.

"Because they didn't require a light mage," Farro explained. "You need a mage who has control over the same type of magic as the magic poisoning. So, if the potion is being used on a fire mage with water magic poisoning, a water mage needs to be present."

"I see," Lentil said, understanding the method. "So it's just like the last time, but with a different type of mage and a slightly different method."

"Yes, and a little more fine tuning," Farro said.

"Are you sure that you cannot get another mage?" Lentil asked, eyeing Blake with a small amount of suspicion.

"Only if you think Lila is prepared to wait a month," Farro said. "Judging by Blake's description of the attack, Lila is in a lot of pain and won't be happy with waiting that long, especially if she finds out that there was a light mage here, ready to go." Lentil gave Blake a hard look before warming up considerably.

"I suppose I can allow him in," Lentil said. "He seems like a good kid, and Lila didn't seem like she hated him, which is a huge surprise."

"That's a relief," Blake said.

"Yeah. The day after you all left, I had a discussion with Grenadine. He said that he thought you were an "okay kind of guy". Coming from Grenadine, that is a huge complement," Lentil said as he began to lead Farro and Blake towards Macaroon.

"I'm glad that Grenadine thinks of my friend so highly," Farro said.

"He thinks of you highly too, Farro," Lentil said with a grin. "He says that you're the best brewer in the galaxy."

"Grenadine is a great person," Farro said. "When he isn't angry, of course."

"I hear you on that one," Lentil said. "He once destroyed an entire rocket because one of the wings was an inch too short."

"Wow," was all Blake could say.

"Yeah. He can be quite the perfectionist," Lentil said. "We will have to talk to Grenadine before you are allowed to see Lila."

"And what about the messenger? The one who brought the rings to the wedding?" Blake inquired. "Where is he?"

"Oh, that was me," Lentil said dismissively. "I wore a disguise so your brother wouldn't recognize me."

"Here," Blake said, reaching into his pack and pulling out the first of the boxes. "My dad had my brother pick out a thank you gift for you. If you hate it or find it highly offensive, then I apologize. I honestly have no idea what is in there."

"Thank you," Lentil said, cautiously taking the box from Blake's hands. He opened the lid and found a folded up sheet of paper with a red seal on it.

"What is it?" Blake asked, just as curious as Lentil was.

"I'm not sure," Lentil said, breaking open the seal. He unfolded the paper. "Oh my god."

"What is it?" Blake asked again.

"It's instructions on how to infuse magic into weapons," Lentil said in awe. "We lost these many years ago. How is it that your father had it?"

"I have no idea," Blake said. Lentil was still looking at the paper in full blown reverence.

"Is it important?" Farro asked.

"Yes, yes it is," Lentil said. "Come now. I will take you to the city." He turned around and hurried towards Macaroon, running up the steps and into the city. He ignored the surprised guards and went straight into Condimen Tower, gesturing for Farro and Blake to wait outside.

"Why is it that we always have to wait out here?" Blake asked.

"This tower is where the dwarves keep all of their secret inventions and technology," Farro said. "I have been in there one, many years ago. I guarantee you that it looks much different now then it was back then." Farro and Blake stood there for about a minute in comfortable silence before they heard crashes and shouting from inside the tower.

"What do you think is happening?" Blake asked, backing away as the shouting came closer and closer to the door.

"I have no idea," Farro said, following Blake's lead and taking several steps back. The doors flew open, narrowly missing Farro's face.

"Farro, it is wonderful to see you again!" Grenadine exclaimed. He clapped his friend on the shoulder, which was only possible because he was standing on the railing of the stairs. The old dwarf spotted Blake behind the cat and gave him a hard look.

"Hello again," Blake said nervously. Grenadine continued to stare at him, his hand resting on a hammer in his belt. Blake wasn't sure if he was going to get brained or stared to death.

"You're the one who brought the instructions." It wasn't a question, so Blake decided to nod.

"Yes. It was a gift from my dad and brother to Lentil. He helped them out immensely," Blake said. Grenadine continued to stare until a wide smile broke out on his face.

"Come here then! Your name is Blake, correct?" Blake nodded. "Come here then, Blake, so I can hug you!" Blake obeyed and got a rib breaking hug from the tiny old man.

"You're welcome?" Blake said breathlessly.

"Yes! Thank you! You have brought a great secret back to us!" Grenadine said.

"How is it still a secret?" Blake asked.

"It's written in Dwarvish code!" Grenadine said. "Only a dwarf can read it. And, since no dwarf would betray dwarvish secrets, we can assume that the contents of that letter are still a secret!"

"That's good to know," Farro said.

"And it gets even better!" Grenadine said. "You and Blake are going to try and help Lila with her problem!"

"Where is she, by the way?" Blake asked, trying to be subtle.

"She's at her home, resting," Grenadine said. "Lentil, can you go show him where? I would like to have a word with Farro."

"Alright sir," Lentil said, leading Blake away from the tower and back towards the town. Grenadine waited until they were out of sight before turning to Farro.

"Do you really think that boy could help Lila?" Grenadine asked.

"I wouldn't have brought him all the way here unless I did," Farro pointed out.

"That's what you said about the last one, and it didn't help at all," Grenadine said.

"I think that I may know what the problem was with that," Farro said. "The mage I brought last time was just a stranger that Lila didn't know, and it wasn't a light mage. I was thinking that, if they form some sort of friendship, there will be a different result than last time."

"Are you sure?" Grenadine asked.

"No, I'm not, but is there another option?" Farro asked.

"I suppose not," Grenadine said.

"We will not be able to help Lila today," Farro said. "I plan on returning to my home for a day so I can see my family. I'm leaving today, and returning late tomorrow. I hope that doesn't inconvenience you in any way."

"I suppose if it cannot be helped," Grenadine said, sounding slightly unhappy.

"Thank you," Farro said. "I will help make sure that Blake is settled in, and then be on my way."

"Alright," Grenadine said. "I just wonder what Lila will say about this."

...

Blake followed Lentil into the workshop, unsure what to expect. They walked past the main room where the jewelery was, and headed deeper into the workshop. Lentil knocked cautiously at the door before swinging it open.

"Lila? Are you awake?" Lentil asked cautiously.

"Mostly," came her reply. "What is it?"

"You have a visitor," he said, opening the door wider to allow Blake into the room.

"Hi," Blake said awkwardly.

"Hello," Lila replied, probably feeling just as awkward. She was lying in a bed, still covered in bandages. Her curly blonde hair was down and her purple eyes looked Blake over with curiosity.

"My brother sent me here to bring you a thank you gift. For the rings," Blake said, slinging off his pack and rummaging through it for the box.

"You wanna know what he got me?" Lentil asked, hopping up and down on Lila's bed like a little kid.

"What?" Lila inquired.

"He brought the lost instructions!" Lentil exclaimed. "The ones on how to infuse magic into metal!"

"What?" Lila asked. "That's incredible! Why did he have them?"

"I don't know," Lentil said. "Maybe the thief sold it and it eventually ended up in his dad's hands."

"Wow," Lila said, sounding amazed.

"I know! And you know what he did before giving it to me? He apologized in case it was offensive!" Lentil said. Lila glanced at Blake, who had successfully removed the box from his bag.

"This is your gift. I don't know what's in it. I apologize now if it is offensive," Blake said, handing the box to Lila.

"You see? He apologized for you too!" Lentil exclaimed.

"What is this?" Lila asked, having already removed the lid. She looking at what appeared to be a small black egg.

"I honestly have absolutely no idea," Blake said. Lila reached into the box and picked it up.

"Um, what's happening to is?" she asked as cracks began to appear.

"Again, no idea," Blake said. Before anything else could be said, the egg shattered and out came a small creature. It looked like a very small snake with odd flaps on its back.

"It's a snake," she said in surprise.

"Please tell me you don't hate snakes," Blake said, expecting her to start screaming like any other girl would.

"I think they're adorable," Lila said, looking at the snake closely. It observed her with yellow eyes before turning away and settling into her hands comfortably.

"It seems to like you," Lentil said.

"So it does," Lila said. "Thank you. How are you doing, by the way?"

"I'm doing fine," Blake said.

"Then what happened to your face?" Lila inquired bluntly, pointing at the scratches and bruise.

"It's nothing," Blake said, turning his face slightly away.

"Sure it is," Lentil said. Blake glanced at him.

"How are you doing?" Blake asked, wanting to get off of the topic of his face.

"I'm doing pretty well," Lila said. Lentil let out a loud scoff.

"You are not doing well. Don't lie," Lentil said.

"Alright, fine. I'm not okay," Lila said. "But you already know that."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about what Malery did," Blake said. "And I'm sorry that we brought her here."

"It's fine," Lila said, depositing the snake in her lap and putting her hands behind her head. "Besides, I have already enacted my vengeance against your family."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, alarmed.

"Lila, what did you do?" Lentil asked, sounding equally troubled.

"Oh, come on guys, chill," Lila said with a snort. "I just gave them the rings."

"Did you curse them?" Lentil asked.

"Well, I've cursed Blake and his family," Lila said. "And especially Brody, in my opinion."

"What did you do to my brother?" Blake asked aggressively.

"I gave them the rings, or sold them at least. That's all," Lila said.

"Then how is that revenge?" Blake asked.

"Don't you realize the horrible thing I've done?" Lila asked in a joking tone. "I helped make sure that your brother married that stupid girl, Malery. And do you know what that means?"

"What?" Blake asked, not quite understanding what was so bad.

"Well, now Malery is part of your family," Lila said. "You are stuck with her. Forever." Blake and Lentil paused, looking at each other.

"That's surprisingly cruel," Blake said. "I see how you can count that as a punishment."

"Yeah, I know," Lila grinned. "Pretty clever of me, eh?"

"It is," Blake said with a laugh. "Interesting job-." A knock at the door interrupted them.

"Come in," Lentil called out. Grenadine and Farro walked in. Lila's eyes lit up when she saw the cat.

"Hey Farro!" she said happily.

"Hello again, Lila," Farro said, walking over to her. "How are you doing?"

"I'm not okay," Lila admitted.

"I know," Farro said. "Blake here told me about the accident. I'm the one who brought him to Razen."

"How do you two know each other?" Lila asked.

"He was the bartender at my brother's wedding," Blake said. "He helped me a lot on that dark day."

"I see," Lila said. "And what brings you to Razen, Farro?"

"Well, I think that I have the solution to your problem," Farro said. "In a few days, you may be rid of your magic poisoning."

"Really?" Lila asked excitedly. "How?"

"Well, it would be the same method as last time, only a little different," Farro said. "And Blake here will be helping me."

"I'm doing what now?" Blake asked.

"It isn't difficult," Farro said. "I have to leave for Gren soon to visit my family. I may have to be away longer to gather the materials needed. I'm just here to tell Lila the news and make sure that you settle in nicely."

"He can stay here," Lentil offered. "I have a bunk bed that he can share. It's human sized, so there won't be any issues."

"That would be perfect," Grenadine said. "Lentil, go show him the room, then return and escort Farro back to his ship."

"Aye sir," Lentil said, leading Blake from the room.

"And make sure Blake goes with you. I think Farro wants a word with him," Grenadine added.

"I will do that," Lentil said as he and Blake disappeared into the room across the hall where Lentil slept.

"Grenadine?" Lila asked suddenly.

"Yes, dear?" Grenadine replied.

"Creme came into my room today," Lila said. "He told me that there was another sighting of the dragon."

"I'm afraid that there was," Grenadine said sadly.

"Was there any conformation for what I saw?" Lila asked.

"No, there still isn't," Grenadine muttered. "It's not that we doubt what you say. It's just that most of us are too afraid to believe it." Lila let out a sigh.

"That's okay, I guess," she said unhappily. Grenadine was going to comfort her when Blake and Lentil returned into the room.

"Are you ready to go, Farro?" Lentil asked. The cat nodded.

"I cannot wait. I will return soon so don't worry," he promised as he exited the room, followed by Lentil and Blake.

"Are you sure that they can help me this time?" Lila asked. "Last time it failed."

"I know, but Farro has a plan for this one," Grenadine said. "I have faith that it will work."

"I hope your faith isn't misplaced," Lila said under her breath as she looked at the tiny snake in her lap.

...

"It was good seeing you again, Farro," Lentil said, hugging the cat again.

"And you, my old friend," Farro replied.

"Thank you for trying to help Lila," Lentil said as he released Farro from the hug.

"Do not thank me until I have been successful in healing her," Farro said.

"Alright. We both know how soon that is!" Lentil said with a smile. Farro returned it and turned to Blake.

"I will be seeing you soon," Farro said, shaking Blake's hand.

"Thank you so much for everything you've done," Blake said.

"It is not a problem," Farro said.

"Can you keep an ear out for Brody?" Blake asked. "See if he has any good news for me."

"Of course," Farro said as he turned to enter the rocket. The engines fired up, which made him have to shout to be heard. "Just remember : try charming her first!"

"You sound like my brother!" Blake shouted back, silently praying that Lentil didn't over hear them. Farro laughed as the door shut. Blake and Lentil backed away as the rocket blasted off into the sky.

"Alright, Blake, let us return to the workshop," Lentil said. Blake fell into step beside the dwarf. Both remained quiet. Blake was taking in the views of Macaroon while Lentil's mind was racing with troubled thoughts.

_What did Farro mean, "try charming her first"? Does this boy like Lila?_

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**Yay!**

**Thanks,**

**~CatKkit.**


	8. Chapter 8

**New Chapter**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Blake frowned as he glanced at his alarm clock again. It was 4:07 in the morning. Blake sighed and rolled over again, angry at the dwarf above him. For such a small creature, he could snore up a storm. And it had been keeping Blake up all night.

Finally, he couldn't take it. He got out of bed, deciding that he wasn't going to fall asleep, and walked out of the room and into the hallway. He paused by Lila's door, noticing that the light was on and the door was cracked. He pushed it open slightly.

"Lila?" he whispered, unsure if she was awake or not.

"Is that you, Blake?" came her reply.

"Yeah," he said, coming into her room.

"I was wondering when you were going to come in here," Lila said with a smile as she closed the book that she had been reading.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, shutting the door behind him so they could talk without the risk of waking up Lentil.

"I know how bad Lentil snores. It's not like I can't hear him," Lila said. "It can be a real pain."

"Now you tell me," Blake muttered.

"Yeah. Now I tell you," Lila agreed. "And now I'm telling you that I'll try to find you some ear plugs later so you can sleep a little more peacefully."

"Thanks," Blake muttered. "Maybe you can get me some of those noise canceling headphones."

"Sure. It's not a problem, especially since you are helping me out," Lila said.

"Look Lila," Blake said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "I honestly have no idea how I'll be helping."

"Really?" Lila asked. "Farro seems so sure that you'll be of help. So does Grenadine and even Lentil."

"I swear I have no idea, but I will try my very best to help," Blake promised.

"Well, you are at least willing to try," Lila said. "That seems pretty good to me." They fell into a silence, with Lila playing with her little snake and Blake staring at his hands.

"How are you doing, really?" Blake asked.

"Better than I was after your "lovely" sister-in-law nearly killed me," Lila said.

"How did that almost kill you?" Blake asked. "I mean I can take a hit like that with ease, no offense."

"You see, when you have magic poisoning of a certain type, any attack or contact with that same type of magic can be extremely dangerous. It will make it worse, like Malery's magic did with me," Lila explained.

"But how do you get magic poisoning?" Blake asked.

"You have to be exposed to a large amount of the type of magic you are weak to, either in a short, powerful burst or small amounts over a period of time," Lila said.

"So a fire mage can only get water magic poisoning," Blake said.

"Yes. Exactly. There are very few cases when it isn't the magic that the mage is weak against, but they usually don't survive long," Lila said.

"And you have light magic poisoning," Blake muttered. "Are you a dark mage?"

"Yeah," Lila muttered, looking away. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Nope. Not at all," Blake said earnestly. _My mother might, though._ "I'm just a little surprised. There aren't many dark mages around any more."

"I know," Lila said. "I suppose you could say that I'm part of an endangered species." Blake allowed himself a small smile. He was tired but curious, which was a fairly dangerous combination.

"So how did you get magic poisoning?" Blake asked, suppressing a yawn. Lila looked at him, but Blake couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"I was exposed to a massive amount of light magic in a short period of time," Lila eventually said in a clipped tone. Blake was going to ask more but he realized how insensitive he was being. He glanced at the clock and decided to make a quick exit.

"I think I might try and get some sleep," Blake said, trying to sound light about it.

"You better," Lila said. "I'm showing you around Macaroon today. You'll need to be alert so you don't accidentally set yourself on fire."

"Why do I get the feeling that something like that has happened before?" Blake asked as he stood up. Lila simply laughed.

"I'll get you the headphones in the afternoon. Good luck trying to sleep. I recommend putting a blanket or pillow over his face."

"Won't he suffocate?" Blake asked.

"He hasn't yet," Lila muttered. "And I've been doing it for years."

"Alright. Goodnight, Lila."

...

Blake found himself lying in bed again, roughly half an hour later. His mind was spinning as he tried to figure out what he should do. His mom wasn't the biggest fan of dark mages, and he wasn't sure how his mom would react to something like that. He assumed that his parents, as well as Brody, would be able to get over it.

His main concern, as usual, was with Malery.

Malery could be incredibly stuck up at all times, but she could tone it down occasionally. She could be rude, mean, and a liar, but could hide that from other people. Something she could never change or hide was her dislike of "weirdos", or anything that wasn't human. They had once come across a rabbit from Puffoon, and Malery had basically lost her marbles. Then there was the incident on Razen with Lentil, how she had insulted him. Blake was just glad that she never ran into Farro. It wasn't that she specifically disliked other beings. She just thought that they were "lower" than humans, and should respect humans as their leaders. It was a crazy opinion of hers that had been passed down through her family, eventually reaching her.

And, in Blake's opinion, Malery's opinion was completely insane, but it didn't stop there.

According to Malery and her family, the beings higher than humans were human mages, and above the human mages were human light mages. The only thing above light mages were the legendary sprites that supposedly lived on the light planet, Nova, but their existence was yet to be proven. Many of the upper class light mage families wasted their fortunes trying to install light mages as the superior beings of the galaxy. Others, such as Malery's family, decided to work the other way and ensure that there was nothing that could bring down a light mage.

All of which ties in with Malery's severe dislike of dark mages.

Blake sighed, stopping his train of thought as he heard Lentil wake up above him.

"Good morning, Blake," the dwarf said drowsily, climbing down the ladder of the bunk bed. "How did you sleep?"

"Not well," Blake admitted.

"I know how you feel. It takes time to get used to sleeping on Razen," Lentil muttered. "I find it too quiet, to be honest."

Blake just stared at Lentil, who was moving around the room, pulling on his boots and hat.

"I find it too loud," Blake said eventually. Lentil looked at Blake like he was crazy and shrugged.

"Everyone has their own opinions, I suppose," Lentil said. "Up you get. It's time for breakfast."

"Alright," Blake said, rolling out of bed, only to fall to the floor. "Give me five minutes."

"Fine," Lentil said, opening the door and walking out of the room. "But only five minutes."

Blake remained on the wooden floor, listening as he heard Lentil making his way down the hall and into Lila's room. About two minutes passed, and Lentil could be heard again, moving further down the hall to the kitchen area. Blake groaned slightly and sat up, throwing his scratchy brown sheets back onto the bed. He got up and walked over to the chest where his clothes were already placed, quickly changing his pants. He walked to the other side of the room, where Lentil had put his t-shirt, quickly pulling his old one off as he did so.

"Up you get," Lentil said as he reentered the room. He caught sight of all the scars that covered Blake's body, his mouth going slightly agape.

"I'm up, as you can see," Blake said, well aware that Lentil was staring. He pulled his shirt on and gave the dwarf a hard look.

"You must have some demons, boy," Lentil muttered. "No one gets that many scars without feeling some anger towards the person who caused all the pain."

"Well, it was my mom, so I can't stay mad at her, now can I?" Blake said as he walked towards the kitchen. He found Lila sitting on a stool, an empty plate in front of her. She was adjusting the bandages on her face. Blake realized that he had just missed seeing what exactly was underneath the bandages. Lentil walked in behind Blake, an apprehensive look on his face as he seemed to see Blake in an entirely new light.

"So, how'd you sleep?" Lila asked, a cheeky note in her voice.

"You know full well how I slept," Blake said, laying his head down on the table with a sigh. He closed his eyes for a second before opening them to find a knife in his face.

"What the heck are you doing?" Lila yelled as Lentil threatened Blake with a large syrup covered knife.

"How does she know how you slept?" Lentil demanded. Blake sat up slowly, his hands in a surrendering position. Lila was watching the two with interest in her eyes. She sipped some water from a colorful bendy straw.

"I have started a sexual relationship with Lila," Blake said with a totally serious expression. Lentil dropped his knife and clutched at his heart, falling off the table. Blake caught him before he hit the ground. Lila was sitting at the table, choking on water and laughter.

"Lentil! He's kidding!" Lila said, laughing and coughing. Lentil lay in Blake's hands, his breathing fast and shallow.

"Never joke like that again," he commanded, still clutching his heart.

"You're way to easy to trick," Blake joked. Lentil shot him an angry look.

"It's true," Lila said. She knelt down next to her friend. "Are you okay, Lentil?"

"I think so," the dwarf said, rolling off Blake's hands and to his feet. He looked at Blake again. "How does she know how you slept?"

"I got up to wander around because I couldn't sleep. I found her awake in her room and we had a nice chat before I returned to bed. That's it," Blake said. "I promise you, that's it."

"Okay," Lentil said, walking around the table slowly. "Okay. That isn't as bad."

"Are you sure that you're okay, Lentil?" Lila asked.

"Yeah," he said. He climbed up a tiny ladder on the side of the table.

"Sorry about that, Lentil," Blake said. Lentil shook his head.

"It's fine. Lila, go get changed. You and I are going to show the like jokester here around the town," Lentil said.

"Why?" Lila asked.

"Because, you can't work in the forges until you are stronger, and I know that you don't want to sit around all day, so I'm giving you something to do," Lentil said.

"Fine," Lila said, hopping off her stool and disappearing into the hallway.

"And you need to eat," Lentil said to Blake, pushing a plate of pancakes towards him.

"Fine by me," Blake said, grabbing the knife that had almost been used to kill him, and began cutting up the pancakes.

"Are you ready for an exclusive tour of Macaroon?" Lentil asked as he too began to eat the pancakes.

"Yeah. It sounds awesome," Blake said. "Do you know when Farro is supposed to get back?"

"In a few days, he said," Lentil remind him. "He wanted a chance to visit his family. Then he said that he needed to find a few extra materials on Gren."

"So, three days maybe?" Blake asked.

"Yeah," Lentil said. "You sound awfully eager to leave." Blake said nothing, just continued to eat his pancakes.

If Lentil could read Blake's mind, then he would see that Blake didn't want to leave. He was getting to like Razen, much more than he ever liked his home on Kovomaka.

He was getting to like Lila too.

* * *

**Chapter done!**

**It's a little short.**

**Thanks,**

**~CatKkit.**


	9. Chapter 9

**New Chapter!**

**Yay!**

* * *

"Alright!" Lila said cheerfully as she began to walk out the front door. She turned to Blake, who was following after her. "Are you ready for your official tour of Macaroon?"

"I guess so," Blake said drowsily, still unused to the time-change that came when traveling to a new planet. It had been worse on the one day trip that he and his brother had taken.

"That's a pity then," Lila said, surprising Blake, "because we aren't going to look around Macaroon."

"Where are we going then?" Blake inquired curiously as he followed Lila down the many steps that led into the dwarven village.

"To Paella," Lila said. "We have some business to take care of with Celadon and the Elder Kettle."

"Alright!" he said, punching the air. "Who are they?"

"They aren't really a 'who'," Lila said, tapping her bandaged chin. "They're more of a 'what'."

"Well, what are they then?" Blake asked.

"They're pots!" Lila said, as if that were a completely normal thing.

"Like, the plant or the type of ceramic object made by potters?" Blake asked.

"They are definitely the drugs," Lila said with a laugh, "because cannabis is a live species that gets murdered and harvested for the pleasure of others." She glanced over at Blake, who had a completely mortified expression on his face.

"Seriously?" he rasped.

"No, of course not!" Lila said. "They're legitimate pots, like the thing you collect water in."

"Ah," Blake said. He paused for a second. "That is just as weird as thinking of them as drugs."

"I know," Lila said. She began to pat at her pockets again, muttering to herself as she paused at the foot of the stairs.

"Did you forget your gloves again?" Blake asked with a snicker.

"Shut up!" she complained, whacking him on the arm, careful to avoid coming in contact with his flesh. "Come on, let's go get them."

"I'll race you to the top," Blake said, taking off without waiting for an answer.

"No fair!" Lila shouted, rocketing up the stairs after him.

...

"What in the blue-bearded-blazes are you two doing?" Lentil demanded as Lila and Blake burst in through the door and nearly tripped over the dwarf.

"We were racing to get back here first," Lila panted, putting her hands on her knees.

"Yeah. I think I won," Blake joked.

"No you didn't," Lila fired back immediately.

"Yeah, I did! Everyone knows that guys are faster than girls."

"Then you are a failure at being a guy, because I am clearly faster."

"Heck no!"

"Heck yes! I left you in the dust."

"No, I left you in the dust."

"Nuh-uh! Even with a head start, I was faster."

"Stop arguing!" Lentil shouted. At once, the two teens stopped. "Good. Now, why did you two come back?"

"I need my gloves," Lila said, touching her exposed fingertips together.

"They're still in the workshop. Probably under that machine of yours," Lentil said.

"Thanks Lentil," Lila said, hurrying out of the room. The dwarf took a second to look at the light mage in front of him.

"You're one weird kid," Lentil commented.

"Is that so?" Blake asked. "How am I weird?"

"Not many people get on Lila's good side," Lentil said. He caught Blake's confused expression. "Don't get me wrong. Lila is a great kid. Everyone here loves her. She just doesn't like many humans. You are quite the exception."

Blake stood there, trying to think of what to say. Before he could say anything, a loud siren sounded. Lentil jumped in surprise, his easy smile falling from his face.

"Come with me, quickly," he ordered, running towards the workshop at the front of the house. Lila met them at the door, her eyes wide with fear.

"What's going on?" Blake demanded over the siren.

"We're under attack from monsters," Lentil said, dragging Blake into the room. "We need to hide so we don't die."

"Under here," Lila ordered, laying on her stomach and sliding under the machine.

"Wait! I need to get something!" Blake said, quickly exiting the room.

"Boy! Get back here!" Lentil shouted. The sirens stopped suddenly and were replaced by a low, nonstop hum. Lentil froze and looked at Lila. The change from the siren to the hum meant that a monster was close.

"Blake!" Lila shouted as Lentil ran out of the room. Several agonizing minutes passed with Lila waiting under the machine. A distant flapping a roaring could be heard approaching. Soon, it sounded like the monster was right above them.

Which it was.

With a mighty roar, the monster, which could now be identified as a dragon, let lose a cascade of fire on the house, setting the kitchen and Lila's room on fire. The dragon could be heard flying away and then approaching again.

"We're back!" Blake shouted as he sprinted into the room, skidding under the machine next to Lila. The two watched from underneath the machine as Lentil entered the room as well.

"Thank Grenadine you're alright boy! That was reckless!" Lentil shouted as he joined them under the machine. Blake didn't have the chance to reply as the dragon let out another roar, tearing the roof off of the house and setting something else on fire. It could be heard retreating again on mighty wings.

"What is that?" Blake whispered as silence fell again.

"A dragon," Lila replied, her voice very close to his ear. Lentil, who was next to Blake, crept forward slowly to see if the dragon was gone.

At once, a massive explosion rocked the room. Blake pulled Lentil back, trying to shield the dwarf from the blast. More explosions could be heard nearby, presumably other buildings being destroyed. Hopefully the Condimen Tower was alright. That was the biggest treasure trove of information and innovation in the galaxy. Losing it would be disastrous.

Another silence fell, and this time Lentil was smart enough to stay put. The dragon's mighty wing beats could be heard, still in the sky above. Suddenly, a scaled foot slammed into the ground in front of the machine, making Lila yelp. Blake quickly slapped his hand over her mouth in an effort to keep her silent.

The breathing of the beast could be heard, the floor creaking beneath it's shifting weight. It sounded as if the monster was sniffling. It's eyes caught some of the shiny rings that scattered the ground. It sniffed a black diamond ring, the same ring that Lila had slapped Blake's hand away just a a day before. The second it's nose touched the ring, a blast of dark energy shot out. The dragon recoiled with a roar.

It didn't fly away, like any wild animal would when injured by a mysterious force. Instead, it was calmed down. Lila shared a confused look with her the two next to her, noticing the monster's out of character behavior.

"Why isn't it flying away?" Blake whispered. Lila glared at him, warning him to stay quiet. Her glare was quite intimidating too. He turned his attention back to the dragon.

It was still standing there, one massive foot in the burned remains of the workshop. A small sliding noise could be heard from the dragon, and a pair of black boots thundered down next to it, almost as if the owner of the boots had dismounted from the dragon.

Which he had.

Blake shared horrified glances with Lila and Lentil. He had only been exposed to the dragon for a short period of time. In that time, he managed to understand a few vital things about the winged beasts that apparently inhabited Razen: they were big, strong, and hostile towards any living life form. How someone would be able to ride it without fear was beyond him.

Unless they raised it from an egg.

Or, you know, they are powerful enough to exert their will over the gigantic monster.

Right now, Blake was really hoping that it was just some random wimpy human who had stumbled upon a dragon egg and raised it. Judging by his luck so far, that probably wasn't the case.

"Well well well. Looks like she isn't home right now," a deep male voice said, presumably the owner of the black boots. The man walked slowly forward, inspecting some of the rubble on the ground. "Hopefully we killed that pathetic dwarf caretaker of hers." Blake felt Lentil stiffen next to him, but thankfully he did not move.

Blake sent a questioning look to Lila, who looked as if her worst fears had been confirmed.

"It's a pity she isn't here," the man said, pacing slowly back towards the dragon's foot. Blake sensed something was amiss and cautiously lay his hand out on the wood floor in front of him. He summoned his light magic and set up an easy light spell, bending and distorting the air right in front of them, essentially making them invisible.

Lila began to squirm next to him, obviously feeling the effects of the spell. It must have been causing her great pain, judging by how she squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip. Lentil reached for Blake's arm, trying to stop him.

The man stopped directly in front of the machine, stooping over to check underneath. Blake, Lila, and Lentil froze, staying perfectly still when they say the hood and mask of the man. He simply sighed and stood up.

"What a pity," he repeated. His boots vanished next to the dragon, and grunts could be heard. He was remounting the dragon. After a few seconds, it's wings began to beat downwards, scattering wood and fragments of metal everywhere. Lentil bit his tongue as a particularly thick piece nearly knocked his hat off. With that, the dragon and the man were gone.

The trio waited for nearly ten minutes to make sure that the beast had left. Lentil walked out first, followed by Blake, who was forced to crawl out. Lila came last and was quickly helped to her feet. They looked around sadly, seeing the burned remains of the workshop. Almost nothing was left. The rest of the houses were either completely untouched or completely demolished. Lila smiled when she saw the little black snake crawl out of the rubble, slithering into her hands. Blake turned to her and the dwarf.

"What on earth was that thing doing here?" Blake asked, pointing at the sky where the dragon had vanished to, "and what the heck was he talking about?!"

* * *

**Chapter done! **

**Yay!**

**Thanks for reading,**

**~CatKkit.**


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